The table reveals a number of interesting facts relating to the pattern of employment in Beeston in 1851:

The female population outnumbers the male population by almost 10%

64% of the working population is working in the textile industry (60% of working males, 71% of working females)

25% of the working population is working in the lace industry (30% of working males, 17% of working females)

50% of household heads are working in textiles, 25% of them in the lace industry

Hosiery and glove knitting still employs 16% of the working population

Less than 8% of the working population are employed in agriculture and horticulture combined

37% of married women are employed, overwhelmingly in the textile industry

In is also noted that the above analysis, whilst broadly similar, differs in detail to that presented as Appendix Nine in "The Beeston Story"17. In particular,
that source found a total working population of 1,670 in the 1851 Census. This difference of approximately 3.4% is unexplained.

Behind these overall facts - which themselves beg many questions - we might expect to be able to discover evidence relating to industry trends, the effect of immigration and emigration on the workforce and
of social trends - including the employment of women and children. Later, we would hope to study more detailed social trends, such as birth and death rates, family size, etc.

As a start, we have prepared a breakdown of the population by gender and age. To view, choose each of the following options:

Notes on Methods :This, and other analyses of the Beeston census, have been prepared from the author's database of Beeston database which includes transcriptions of all available
censuses. The author's own industry and occupational classifications have been used; these attempt to present an analysis based, wherever possible, entirely on
industrial groupings and without, for example, considerations of social class14; in particular, ancillary workers (such as factory engine drivers, clerks, managers, etc)
have been included in the respective industry totals as it is felt that this reflects more accurately the effect of that industry on the local economy - although the numbers involved are
relatively small. Another example of the effect of this is that station masters, railway engine drivers, railway booking clerks and station porters would all be classified in
the "Transport:Railway" as they all contribute to running the railway and are working in that role because of the existence of that railway. In particular, the analysis attempts to
avoid factors relating to social class - such as those included to some degree by Tillott15 and by Armstrong16 in studies elsewhere.
Analysis by this dimension will be attempted separately at another time.

The figures for "Wives" only include those who are recorded as living with their husbands who are recorded as Head of Household.

Notes on occupation groupings1Includes masons, architects, bricklayers, plumbers, joiners, painters, etc and their apprentices2Includes gamekeepers, veterinaries, land surveyors, etc3Labourers not identifiable to a specific industry4Included to quantify a major industry not present before about 18755Includes brickyard workers6Includes clerks & bookkeepers (except those associated with specific industries), insurance workers, bankers, house agents, etc7Includes local and state officials, military, police, firemen, tax collectors, etc8Includes hairdressers, chimney sweeps, piano tuners and others performing services for individuals.9Includes winders, etc who may be more specifically part of the lace industry10Those making gloves and similar products, usually on knitting frames; an extension of the hosiery industry11Includes blacksmiths, shoemakers, cabinet makers, saddlers, printers, tinsmiths, etc and their apprentices12Includes tailors, dressmakers, bonnet makers, stay makers, shirt makers, etc13Living on personal wealth, annuities, share and property income, etc

Source References14Similar to that used by Charles Booth, in 1886 for his social survey, Life and Labour of the People of London - but with much less
detail and with an emphasis relative to local occupations.15P. M. Tillott - who devised a classification used in census analysis by extra-mural classes in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire in the 1960s16Alan Armstrong, Stability and Change in an English County Town - A Social Study of York 1801-51, Cambridge University Press17Margaret Cooper, The Beeston Story, Nottinghamshire County Council Leisure Services, 1996, page 86